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Decoding the letter O
The letter O (lowercase o''', pronounced as most vowel letters in English, had initially four main pronunciations; however in Received Pronunciation and in General American they are currently three. *So-called “short o”, IPA phoneme /ɒ/, as in lot, hop, hopping, cloth, long or torrid :Short o spelling, IPA phoneme /ɔː/, as in cloth, or long *So-called “long o”, IPA phoneme /əʊ/, as in go, hope, hoping or most *Long "or" monophtong (short vowel spelling), IPA phoneme /ɔː/, as in north, horse, born or torrid. *Long vowel "or" spelling, currently also /ɔː/, but it used to be /oə/ as in force, core or glory. It also can be pronounced /ʌ/ as in love plus other, less common pronunciations, sometimes in combination with other letters, and, of course, it can be used as schwa. There are some helpful rules (to be taken with the habitual pinch of salt). Distinctions by dialect Teaching the letter O is one of those cases in which teachers, whichever their preferences might be, need to point out the differences between Received Pronunciation and General American. The best known of these differences is that RP /ɒ/ is normally GA /ɑː/. Also RP in some cases is GA as in cloth and long. Also, many North Americans pronounce /ɔː/ as /ɑː/; see also Cot-caught merger. As /ɒ/ See main article IPA phoneme /ɒ/. See also So-called “short o” and Decoding exercises: "orV" and "orrV" *before final consonants: bomb - bond - box - drop - hot - job - lot - not - on - shop - stop - top - upon :across - along - cloth - cost - dog - long - lost - off *before double consonant or "ck": block - clock - coffee - follow - occupy - offer - possible - shock *before one consonant: body - gone - holiday - model - poverty - probably - product *before two different consonants: compact ''(adj., n.) - often - problem As /əʊ/ See main article IPA phoneme /əʊ/. * with magic e: alone - bone - phone - stone - whole - zone * with silent e: noble * mid position: global - local - mobile - motivate - notable - slogan - soldier * ending in consonants: bold - both - don't - fold - folk /fəʊk/ - ghost - gold - gross - hold - host - most - old - post - roll - poll - won't * ending in "o": ago - also - buffalo - espresso - go - judo - no - potato - radio - so - taco - tomato - tuxedo - video As /ɔː/ See also Decoding exercises: "orV" and "orrV" * afford - born - force - form - horse - important - north - order - report - short - sort - store - storm - support - sword * AmE: across - along - ch'o'colate - cloth - cost - dog - gone - long - lost - off - offer - often As /ʌ/ ''See main article IPA phoneme /ʌ/. As /ɜː/ * attorney - word - work - world - worm - worse - worst - worth As /uː/ * do - lose - move - tomb - two - who - whose - womb As /ʊ/ * b'o'''som - woman - wolf As /ɪ/ *women As schwa ''See main article schwa. *weak forms: for - from - of - some - to *at beginning (including many verbs): object (verb) - observe - occasion - occur - official - oppose *as part of suffix -tion: nation - motion *as part of suffix -sion: version - vision *other: antonym - brocc'o'''li - compact ''(verb) - director - ecol'o'''gy - forbid - gorilla Combinations As "oa" ''See main article Decoding exercises: "oa" *as '''/ɔː/: abroad, boar, board, broad, oar, roar, soar *as /əʊ/: As "oe" See main article: Decoding exercises: "oe" */əʊ/: Joe - mistletoe - oboe - toe :plurals: does (noun) - mosquitoes - potatoes */ʌ/: does (verb) */uː/: canoe - shoe */əʊə/: poem - poet - poetry As "oi" See main article: IPA phoneme /ɔɪ/ */ɔɪ/: choice - oil As "oo" :See main article: Decoding exercises: "oo" */uː/: boot - choose - cool - fool - loose - moon - pool - root - school - soon - stool - tool */ʊ/: book - cook - foot - good - hook - look - shook - took - wool - whoops! */ʌ/: blood - flood As "ou" See main article Decoding exercises: "ou" */aʊ/: about - cloud - house - mountain - mouth - out - round */aʊə/: flour - hour - our - sour */ʌ/: country - cousin - touch - trouble - young */ɔː/: bought - course - court - fought - source - thought */əʊ/: although - dough - shoulder - soul - though */uː/: group - soup - through - you - youth */ʊ/: could - would - should */ɜː/: journalist - journey */ə/: ending in -our : colour - neighbour - vapour :ending in -ous: dangerous - enormous - famous - obvious - religious - serious As "ow" See main article: Decoding exercises: "ow" */əʊ/: know - row - window */aʊ/: brown - down - towel */ɒ/: knowledge As "oy" See main article: IPA phoneme /ɔɪ/ */ɔɪ/: boy - destroy - employ - enjoy - Joyce - royal - toy Silent "o" *col'o'''nel, jeopardy, Geoffrey, laborat'o'ry, Leonard, leopard, people *varisyllabic words ("o" is silent or it sounds /ə/): catholic, choc'o'late, corp'o'rate, comf'o'rtable /ˈkʌmfərtəbəl, ˈkʌmftəbəl, ˈkʌmftərbəl /, Deborah, favorite /favourite, history, incorp'o'rate ''(adj.), lab'o'''ratory, temporary Homophones */əʊ/: lone - loan; no - know; poll - pole; roll - role; so - sew - sow; sole - soul; */ʌ/: none - nun; one - won; some - sum; son - sun; */ɔː/ all accents: bored - board; or - oar - ore; worn - warn; :only in some accents: shore - sure; stork - stalk Heteronyms *compact /ˈkɒmpækt/ ''(noun, adjective), /kəmˈpækt/ (verb, adjective) Variant pronunciations */ɒ, ʌ /: accomplice, accomplish */ɜː, ʌ ˈθʌrə /, worry Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1 Spanish References See also *Decoding exercises: "or" *Decoding exercises: "orr" *Decoding exercises: "orV" and "orrV" *Decoding exercises: "ov" *Decoding exercises: "ao" *Decoding exercises: "eo" *Decoding exercises: "oo" External links o o